General Assembly Session 58 meeting 44

Mr. Andjaba (Namibia)

In his address at the beginning of this session of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General underscored the importance of collective action in addressing global challenges. He also emphasized the need for the effective functioning of major organs of the United Nations and the relationship between them. We fully agree with the Secretary-General on that. The participation of the Deputy Secretary-General in this debate reflects the importance that the Office of the Secretary-General attaches to the work of the General Assembly and to this debate.

As a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and of the Group of 77 and China, and indeed in our national capacity, we attach great importance to the issues under discussion. In that connection, we welcome the President's readiness to take the lead in implementing the various resolutions concerning revitalization of the General Assembly. Beginning with the forty-sixth session, we have made considerable progress, but the changes on the international scene dictate that we should continue to revitalize the General Assembly and to strengthen the system as a whole.

In the President's informal note on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, he proposed that consideration of such revitalization be clustered under "Enhancing the authority and role of the General Assembly" and "Improving the working methods of the General Assembly". Much has been accomplished in the latter category. Therefore, for the purpose of today's debate, I shall confine my brief remarks to a number of aspects of enhancing the authority and role of the General Assembly. I shall do so because the current international situation demands an authoritative General Assembly that commands respect and legitimacy worldwide.

The President has made available to the Assembly a compilation that indicates the road we have travelled and how far we still have to go in implementing the decisions we have taken here. Perhaps we must pause and ask ourselves why resolutions of the General Assembly are not implemented by its own members, whereas those of the Security Council are, with the exception of a few cases, in which some members tend to ignore them. That then prompts us to ask whether we can earnestly enhance the work of the General Assembly without looking seriously once again at the United Nations Charter.

For example, while the Security Council has the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, the General Assembly can also play an effective role. As we have it now, conflict situations are confined to the Security Council. Important issues are brought to the General Assembly when the Council fails to act. We propose that major international conflict situations be considered first in plenary meeting, after which the Security Council should meet, having benefited from the views of the general membership. That, in our view, would not contradict Article 10 of the Charter.

The general debate is highly valued by Member States. Hence, participation at the highest level has been on the increase; it gives Member States an opportunity to pronounce on many issues of national or international importance. The focusing of each meeting of the general debate might develop into small high-level meetings or special sessions. That needs to be given some serious thought before it is put into practice.

The voluntary 15-minute limit on statements has, no doubt, shortened the general debate. However, displaying the lights is perhaps less courteous to the speaker. Our suggestion is that the lights be displayed only to the speaker.

My delegation has always wondered what determines the tenure of various United Nations bodies. For example, members are elected to the Economic and Social Council for three years, and non-permanent Security Council members serve for two years on the Council, while the President of the General Assembly is elected for 12 months. Having served on the Security Council, I can say from experience that, for non-permanent members, the first six months are for learning the ropes. Thus it is during the second half of the year that one begins to comprehend fully the workings of the Council and thus to make a meaningful contribution.

The point I am making is that there is a gap between the assumption of office and making an impact as far as the tenure of the office of the President of the General Assembly is concerned. For example, resolutions adopted under the current presidency will reach Member States around February. That leaves an implementation period of about six months for Member States, after which the Secretary-General will request information on implementation from Member States in order to compile his reports to the General Assembly. And so the cycle continues. The biennialization of items will assist in ensuring that effective action will be taken. However, that must be done with the understanding of the countries concerned.

Every year, during the general debate, the President of the General Assembly is congratulated on having assumed his or her high office. But what are the working conditions of that office? As a country that has had the rare honour of presiding over the General Assembly, our experience shows that we, the Member States, must adequately equip the President's office if it is to meet the demands placed upon it. Resources from the regular budget must be made available to the office, and the onus must not be left on the country assuming the presidency. The institutional memory must be extended to the substantive issues, discussions and recommendations of General Assembly sessions.

Most of the former presidents of the General Assembly have served for many years at the United Nations. Others, upon their return home, have assumed higher posts in their countries. Individually and collectively, with their international status, they bring to the table vast knowledge and experience on issues in the international arena. They certainly can play an important role as facilitators. In our view, the former presidents of the General Assembly should be engaged in leading working groups of the Assembly and should serve on panels or committees to look into specific subjects upon which the General Assembly might decide. That would not only elevate the office but also contribute to raising awareness of the work and the authority of the General Assembly.

In closing, let me say a word about the Fourth Committee. It is through the Fourth Committee that many of our countries were decolonized, and, as a result, we are Members of this great Organization. The Committee needs to be strengthened by reviewing, inter alia, progress being made with regard to the Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Mr. Al-Awadi (Kuwait)

My delegation would like to align itself fully with the statement delivered by the Permanent Representative of Algeria on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Mr. President, my delegation would like to extend its thanks for the distinguished efforts you have made and for your insistence on and interest in the issue of enhancing the General Assembly and rationalizing and reforming its work. The unofficial NAM paper, which you have presented and which was discussed in informal consultations on 17 October 2003, is a clear proof of your intention to bring about a positive conclusion to the issue of rationalizing and reforming the work of the General Assembly and enhancing its role, thus complementing what your predecessors have done in previous sessions. Kuwait believes that the NAM paper presented by you, Mr. President, last week contained many practical proposals for improving the working methods of the General Assembly. We can, therefore, refer to it and be guided by it through the next phase in order to reach consensus on the largest possible number of proposals contained in it.

Kuwait, through its Permanent Mission here, has given special importance to the issue of rationalization and reform of the work of the General Assembly because the results would be a reflection, in the end, of our performance at this important organ of the United Nations. We believe that it is important to present our remarks on this issue, which concern the general principles that should guide us during the reform process. We will thus present proposals on procedures that we believe will bring about the desired objectives of this process.

It is essential that we use the present positive momentum to achieve some noticeable progress in the rationalization process of the work of the General Assembly, in accordance with general principles that will be a guide for Member States, for subsequent Presidents of the General Assembly and for the Secretariat in the implementation of any steps in this area.

My delegation has noted that the reform process comes up every year associated with specific ideas, enthusiasm or keenness, but without setting up guiding principles that should be applied at the beginning of every session. We should not repeat ourselves concerning this issue at every session. Our objective in setting up such principles is to protect the political interests of any party interested in this process.

The general principles and proposals concerning work procedures according to which we should work in the next meeting are as follow:

First, we must agree on the principle of continuity in the reform and rationalization of procedures, so that the reform process is not limited to a specific session or a specific presidency but will continue, whether the results are positive or negative, even if we have not reached agreement on a specific area of rationalization and reform.

Secondly, agreement on the process of rationalization and reform of the working methods of the General Assembly is not only related to technical matters. It is also related to sensitive political matters and, accordingly, political dimensions should be taken into account. We repeat what we said in our statement at the last session on the need to take into account the political nature of the work of the United Nations, which means that we will not follow the procedures used in private sector institutions.

Thirdly, the reform process should be fully transparent and all States should have the right to know about all proposals. These proposals should be presented in a fair and equal manner, taking into account the ideas of small States and small delegations, which have difficulty following the sessions of the General Assembly and its many committees because of their frequency and the fact that they are held at the same time as other meetings.

We call upon the President of the General Assembly, his successors and the Secretariat to follow closely the ideas of Member States and to help us crystallize all the ideas agreed upon in the area of reform of the General Assembly, particularly proposals concerning working methods and procedures. These proposals should be submitted and adopted without delay, so that they will not be superseded by other proposals and procedures that are not yet agreed upon.

My delegation believes that one of the most important procedural changes that the General Assembly has started to implement is the clustering of similar items for debate. We call for the continuation of this clustering approach, particularly when discussing items in the General Assembly.

Concerning rationalization of the agenda items of the General Assembly by biennializing or triennializing certain ones or cancelling them, this method is a bit sensitive but can be implemented if we take into account the political aspects of those issues. In this context, the most important thing is consultation in two phases. First, the secretariat of the General Assembly would, each year before starting the regular session of the General Assembly, consult with States or with specific States concerning a specific item that could be postponed to a coming session or a procedure that could be adopted that would rationalize the method. The secretariat, after completing the consultation process, would then submit a paper through the President of the General Assembly that would indicate the items on which agreement had been reached with the parties concerned, to rationalize those items. We emphasize here two principles: the method of consultation and the agreement of the States parties to a particular item.

My delegation supports the proposal by the President of the General Assembly to concentrate general discussion at the beginning of the session on a specific issue or theme; this approach has been successfully used by the Non-Aligned Movement in its recent conferences and summits. My delegation has studied the proposal made by the President of the General Assembly concerning scheduling the discussion of the items of the General Assembly and agrees that it is an important proposal and will alleviate the burden of many countries with small delegations if it is done in an accurate and solid manner. We call for scheduling the meetings of the Main Committees of the General Assembly throughout the year so that the meeting of a particular Committee could be held in one month every year or during a specific period, in accordance with the traditional method followed at the inauguration of every session, holding the general debate in the month of September.

My delegation supports the proposal of strengthening the capabilities and potentials of the Office of the President of the General Assembly. We also support what was contained in the statement of the NAM representative in this connection. We could also establish a specific unit in the Secretariat whose staff would help the President of the General Assembly during each session.

In conclusion, Mr. President, my delegation would like to emphasize that the general framework proposed in your paper must concentrate on procedures and on improving working methods, because this is the only way to attain the principal objective of this process, which is to enhance the role of the General Assembly and to revitalize its role in accordance with the Charter. My delegation will cooperate fully with you to safeguard the success of your efforts. I would like to express my thanks to Ambassador Abdallah Baali, the representative of Algeria, for his efforts to coordinate the positions of the NAM States.

Mr. Motomura (Japan)

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